Day 248, 9 March 2013, Kelowna Rockets vs. Kamloops Blazers. GO ROCKETS GO! We rugged up and headed to the ice hockey arena tonight for one of the biggest games of the season - arch-rivals slamming into each other, chasing a small puck with big sticks, sharp blades and lots of protective gear - and doing it all at ferocious speeds on ice. And they really do slam up against the barriers. The most endangered species on the ice are the referees - no protective gear - but gee - they can move fast when they have to! We were treated to window seats in the restaurant area - super cool system where you can help yourself to the buffet then sit on your stool looking out over the arena from the top row of seats. From the national anthem to the warm ups, the excitement was building and it turned out to be a great game all the way through - not least of which because the home side won 2-1. One of the funniest things we've seen lately was a lucky draw held in the middle of the game where hundreds of coloured (and numbered) balls were poured into the middle of the arena. Then five huskies came out - and whichever balls the dogs picked up in their mouths were the winning numbers. So much more fun than those sterile lotto drawing machines... don't you think? Truly, it was over all too soon - the game had a few seconds to go and there was a massive punch up on the ice (see today's picture) even a referee was in the wrong place at the wrong time - suspect one of the players will be going straight to hell for that one. What a night - ice hockey has been on our joint "must do" list for ages and the chance to do this came out of the blue. Even groovier was management putting our names up on the giant video screen during one of the breaks. There is a section for happy birthdays and special welcomes and there we were... Welcome to James & Vivienne from Australia. Ahhh..... doesn't get much better than that.